24 Hours Left!

This is it – the last 24 hours of the Kickstarter! This is the last chance to fund Dead State and meet our stretch goals. As of yesterday, two more of our stretch goals have been met and we’re well on our way to meeting our $300k stretch goal and unlocking the additional challenge of the City maps and a brand new ally.

With 24 hours left, there’s a few things we can do to help reach $300k and beyond. A lot of that is going to depend on reaching new backers and reminding people that this is their last chance to pledge or upgrade their pledge. Again, the easiest way we can do this is:

Write game sites and tell them to cover Dead State because time is running out. (Be polite)

Keep message board topics alive and tell people why you support Dead State or link to art or interviews. (Follow the rules of the boards)

Tweet or post about the game on social networks if you haven’t done so already – remember to tell people that the Kickstarter is coming to an end.

Remind friends who might be interested in the game and make sure they have a link to the Kickstarter project page.

Drawing attention to the project and getting new backers will quickly reach those stretch goals. Yesterday was the second best day of funding for the project! The last 24 hours could go even higher.

Additionally, we would encourage that all backers do the following before the KS ends:

Check your pledge level, read over the rewards, make sure you are 100% satisfied with your pledge and that you know exactly what is included. You can’t change it after the Kickstarter ends.

Make sure your credit info for Amazon hasn’t changed! You have several days to fix issues with it after the KS ends and they should notify you if there are issues, but if it gets cancelled for any reason, there is no way to redo the pledge.

This is the last chance to get the base game for $15.

This is the last chance to get the Splendid Box ever. We will most likely not have the bullet USB again either.

We will never offer the special edition shirt ever again – it’s exclusive to Kickstarter.

Backers at the $5000 level will receive an Executive Producer title in the credits.

It’s been a great month so far for Dead State, thanks to you. We appreciate all the support! We’re down to 1 day and three stretch goals. It would be great to add those new team members and last bits of functionality. Let’s make this last 24 hours count - we can do this!

Comments

Copyright law isn't something new to software or digital distribution. The best way to think about it (IMHO) is to consider it like an actual book. In fact, the old software company Borland used to state this in their licenses "Treat this software like a book". In other words, like a book, only one person at a time will be reading a given purchased copy of it.. If one stops reading it, another can start, but if two people want to read it simultaneously, they must buy 2 copies. So there absolutely is a way for someone to "borrow" digital goods. Either you trust people to be honest and follow the law, or you slather on the DRM. There really isn't a "sticky gray area" of ownership for digital goods. Before digital goods, books, music and movies could ALL be copied, and have the same exact issues of "sharing" or "borrowing". The ONLY difference is the ease with which that copying and distribution takes place.

Licensing is basically a way for software companies to do an end run around copyright law, which allows things like resale of the purchased item and other fair use protections. The software companies cleam they are not selling you a copy of the item, but instead a "license" to use the item - but only in accordance with whatever rules they choose to apply. But the actual enforcability is still up for debate, such as with the very recent EU court ruling that regardless of what they call it, "license" or not, it was still a sale and so users had the right of resale.

Well, even if I own three laptops, install it on all three and someone else plays it while I'm playing it, it still sounds like fair use to me. Companies worrying about that is really where DRM comes from. Expecting everyone to have their own copy, nobody can share. Now I suppose the waters start to muddy if I say, SOLD my laptop with it still installed on there since it could be considered resale. But the DRM is really just a layer of control to prevent resale and distribution. There are no 'used' digital games you can't let someone 'borrow' a digital game. And that's where the disconnect is, some may say, "No, everyone should have to buy their own copy." and others may say, "I own this good, I'll do with it what I please!" That's why we license digital goods, to get around that sticky gray area of ownership. Now, don't mistake my interest for concern here, its simply a topic I happen to be interested in. I'd prefer people support DB when the game comes out as well, this is just about the actual 'idea' of digital goods.

@Devon - You are misunderstanding the difference between "DRM-free" and "copyright-free". DRM is just a layer of stuff added to attempt to physically prevent something that is already illegal, regardless of whether it is possible. DoubleBear still retains the Copyright for their game, and as such, their customers are not allowed to duplicate (and/or distribute) copies beyond what Fair Use law allows for.

Is having a copy on all 3 of your laptops "fair use"? I'm not a legal expert, but my personal sniff test is: Will more than one of those copies of you game be played _at the same time_? (ie: you playing it on one laptop while a friend plays it on another?) IMHO this is a violation. Or is it just you, playing it on one laptop at work and then playing it on another at home? IMHO, this is reasonably fair use, but your best bet would be to contact DoubleBear and ask them what their feeling is on it.

So anyway, the $30 Ally Pack might perhaps not be necessary FOR YOU, if you'll be the only one ever using all your 2 or 3 copies, but it is not nonsense. For anyone who wants to be able to play it *while a friend or family member is also playing it*, it makes perfect sense to buy 2 copies. Unless they want to pirate it, which is how piracy enters the discussion.

Hi there i just to add the for those that Pledge $85 or more.
The Save One for Yourself Pack (This Pack is not included in any other tier) -A metal magnum bullet-shaped USB pre-loaded with the game, etched with the Dead State logo, and on a keychain for easy transport and bragging rights.
plus A digital copy of the game so you don’t have to wait for delivery. -The digital soundtrack, the digital book, special thanks in the credits, and a silver forum badge (Add $10 for shipping outside of the US and Canada)

If you live in US and Canada no shipping charges = only need to pledge $85

If you live outside US and Canada there would be $10 shipping charges = Pls pledge $85+$10 (shipping) = $95

@altruism I will assume that everyone that pledged their money they did so to help Double Bear in making the best game they can possibly make .Plus I honestly believe that if they grow enough they can make a difference in the industry.That will be an amazing thing for gamers.
@Victor I'm looking forward in meeting you there.:)
@Devon I hope they will do it the GOG.com style.Those fellows earned my respect for the way they do business.The same thing goes for CDProjekt as well.

Mads, you are not reading what is being written. I own three laptops. If I install it on all of them I will have three copies of the game. Two DIGITAL copies is not the same as two PHYSICAL copies. Also, licensing agreements are DRM, perhaps the most common kind for digital goods. Finally, I put a thousand down on DB's vision because I believe in and support it, and want to help it be as good as it can be, not for 'cheap swag'. You shouldn't assume that I care about something because I have ulterior motives. We're all here for the same reason, even the people putting down a dollar care enough to invest in this dream. Help keep it civil please.

@Devon You are obviously not getting the point of Kickstarter. It's not about you buying cheap stuff it's about supporting people and their projects. Oh, and copying a game in violation of the license agreement IS PIRACY. Just because you can doesn't mean you are allowed to. Thinking like that is the reason we have to live with DRM in the first place!

OK I just bumped up my pledge by $500 so now you can put me in as the nastiest human NPC anyone will ever meet in the game, or some in-game money-loving arms dealer / crook that everyone would remember or have a laugh about after each play-through... I hope we can all make it to the $300K tier - I really want the City area! Good luck!

Two copies of a digital product is exactly the same as one copy. You download it. Heck, you could just hit Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V to have two copies of it. You aren't thinking about what's being said here. If there is no DRM of any sort, and no distribution controls, then one copy is the same as a hundred thousand copies. Which means the 30$ 'ally pack' tier makes no sense, nor do the other offers for 'two digital copies'. It has nothing to do with pirating.

DRM-free means they will treat their honest customers like honest customers and not annoy them by treating them like crooks with anti-piracy measures that generally do extremely little to actually slow down the real pirates. This doesn't mean "It's OK to pirate it", though - just because it is possible for you to give a copy of the game to all your buddies doesn't make it legal or ethical. Just like leaving your apartment door unlocked oir window open doesn't make it OK for someone to come in and steal all your stuff.

Having a second license allows you to legally and ethically give a copy of the game to one other person. That's what the $30 Ally Pack allows you to do. Is the "legal" and "ethical" part really not enough? If it's not enough for them, remind me not to leave any of my posessions unattended around them.

If someone wants to be a scumbag and post their download link to some forum, it wouldn't surprise me if the multiple downloads from multiple IP's were detected and the link was quickly disabled. I don't think many people would call that DRM, though.

As for a key, I don't expect to see one: most people consider that a form of DRM (albiet a fairly mild one), and more importantly, you could just enter the same key on every copy you make of the game. Unless the game "phones home" to validate the key, it won't know, and if the game is phoning home and tracking "activations", we're definitely in serious DRM territory.

Really, this is pretty simple. DRM-free means they're treating us decently and asking us to be decent in return and not abuse their trust. Even if it's easily possible to be a scumbag, people can and should do the right thing.

Superbacker

Not if the gamers backing the game are interested in supporting it and future games. Then they'd simply pay for the game and not just spread it around like that. In point of fact I know several gamers (myself included) who have DRM-free copies of games which we don't spread around the internet. For example I have a DRM-free copy of The Witcher (digital copy) and I decided to give several friends The Witcher as a gift. So I purchased a new copy for each of them because I put my money where my mouth is in support of DRM-free gaming.

So the $30 tier makes perfect sense, it's two copies of the game just like it says.

Indeed, the 30$ tier wouldn't make any sense if there isn't any DRM. That should probably be clarified. There has to be SOME form of digital management, otherwise you could just send the download link to everyone you know, post it up in forums and etc... The game might be DRM free, but the distribution surely has some sort of controls, otherwise it would make any sort of digital reward pointless.

Well, if there is no keys whatsoever, let's say just like any GOG game, I don't see why Thomas wouldn't be able to just install the game twice, once on his computer and once on his wife's. But then, wouldn't the $30 tier reward be kind of really stupid to offer?

No, I'm sure there is a key. And again, from the look of the rewards presentation, only one even for the $85 USB reward.

You get the two 'copies' of the game, but it seems like only one key, which I think is what doshu was trying to say. At 150$ you get two digital copies, which would be two different keys, plus the USB bullet. Essentially you are getting a physical copy of the game as well as the ability to download it, so you won't wait for shipping.

@Thomas: then why don't you create another KS account, say for your wife, and take another $15 copy of the game, while keeping another higher pledge for yourself?

@Devon: I perfectly understand your point. However, as much as I am for supporting indies and great games, I think that it should work both ways. I put more money if I see there is a value in it for me. Here, I don't see that value. My $15 are enough to show my support for Dead State. For more, DB has to convince me one way or another, which they kind of fail for me here.
It's not much about the amount I am ready to give, you can see that I backed a lot of projects those past few months. It's about what I expect for the money I give.

You shouldn't look at the tiers as levels you have to fund at. You could pledge 31$ and be giving just a little more, or pledge 50, 70, 100 and still take the thirty dollar reward. Heck, there's a 3.6% discrepancy between the total amount funded, and the amount shown if you total all the pledges. There are people out there doing just that.

I checked my tier's stuff, the $15 one, and I can't say that I'm really satisfied by it. But then again, I found all the other ones that would interest me - containing either the pdf book or physical items - way too expensive. I pledge $100 on Grim Dawn to get a looooot of stuff in addition to help to game achieve more stretch goals. But here, I would only get a USB key and a t-shirt. I guess you guys at DB have thinked all this very thouroughfully and that the deciding on rewards is a difficult thing, so I won't really critisize your choices. Even if I want to :p. No, I'll just say this: there's nothing I see here making me want to put more than $15. Hell yeah, the game will surely kick ass, and I thank you for taking the risk to make it. But all the way to $15, not more. Not this time anyway.

All the best for the few hours remaining, as well as for the game development.

Superbacker

Looking forward to seeing continued positive moment continuing/growing from yesterday throughout this last 24 hours. And thanks to all my fellow backers, present and future, for stepping up to make Dead State all that it can be :) lets claim those final stretch goals! :)

It has been a great run and I am looking forward to check how it ends :) ! Good luck and really looking forward to this game (will have a constant fight with "lets check the developer updates" and "no, lets not spoil anything!" until it is released).